In dogged pursuit of a rare bird

View full sizeSandy MillikenEleven snowy owls are seen in this image made at Boundary Bay near Vancouver, British Columbia, by wildlife photographer Sandy Milliken of Post Falls, Idaho. The photo was shot in January 2012 during a season noted across northern tier of the United States for big numbers of snowy owls migrating south for the winter from their arctic territory.

By RICH LANDERSTHE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Sandy Milliken proved that wildlife photographers are a hungrier version of the common bird-watcher by going the distance to make pictures of snowy owls this month.

Failing to find the snowies reported this season within a few miles of her home in Post Falls, Idaho, Milliken filled her vehicle's gas tank and redoubled her efforts.

She was determined to seize the opportunity provided by this winter's stand-out migration of snowy owls across the northern United States.

The white birds catch the attention of birders almost every winter as they scatter in ones and twos south from the Arctic to winter hunting grounds that extend into the northern United States. But this year's nation-spanning migration is a well-publicized owl-apalooza.

Snowy owls, popularized by Hedwig in the Harry Potter movies, come from tundra regions where humans are scarce, but they have little fear of human activity. Boston's Logan Airport typically has New England's high count for snowy owls tallied in a winter.

A tip from a Bellingham, Wash., photographer steered Milliken toward the driftwood beaches along Boundary Bay in British Columbia just southwest of Vancouver. The last "irruption," or unusually large migration from the north, of snowies to congregate there occurred in 2007, birders say.

"My friend was getting great photos of snowy owls and he told me right where to go (south of the Boundary Bay Airport)," she said. "But the wind and rain was horrible there for weeks through the holidays. I waited until there was a break in the weather. Last week I went for it."

Fog and drizzle greeted her arrival, along with a mother lode of snowy owls.

"I counted 26 snowy owls as I walked a path along one marsh the size of two city blocks," she said.

She pounced on one big, brief moment to capture 11 snowy owls in a single frame through a 100-400 mm zoom lens on Jan. 7.

There are 10 mature white snowy owls and one heavily barred darker snowy owl -- likely a female -- in the background, she said.

Milliken said she came home from Boundary Bay with images that will take her weeks to sort.

"Out of thousands of photos, that group shot is one worth remembering."

Snowies in Oregon

Portland Audubon reports that the unusual influx of snowy owls is also being seen this winter in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Sightings this fall and winter include in the Gray's Harbor area in Washington and, in Oregon, near Burns, Albany, Salishan and the South Jetty of the Columbia River near Astoria. A snowy owl was even reported at River View Cemetery in Southwest Portland in November.

The owls are attracted to open treeless places that resemble their breeding grounds on the tundra -- in the past they've been spotted on Bayocean Spit near Tillamook, says Steve Engel, adult education programs manager for Portland Audubon.

Most winters, Oregon has no snowy owl sightings, and the last ones were in the winter of 2005-06, he says.

If you spot one of the white owls, Engel says to enjoy watching it from a distance that's comfortable for the bird. If the owl starts looking agitated, back off so you don't spook it into flying and burning energy.

Adult males are mostly white, females have some black markings and juveniles are heavily barred. Barn owls can be light-colored but aren't that snowy white.

The arrival of unusual numbers of birds from the north is believed to be linked to the boom and bust cycles of lemmings (the snowy owl's main food), weather and other factors, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.